Trenton residents grow angrier with city violence

TRENTON — Residents stormed Trenton Council Thursday night to vent about the growing violence in the city, including one woman with a photo of a bullet hole in her house.

The woman, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, said her house was hit Sunday in the shooting on Laurel Place. She said there were kids outside during the time of the shooting.

“Every since this incident happened, I can no longer stay at my house,” the single mother said. “I have never been so scared in my entire life. My son don’t feel safe.”

The woman pleaded with council for help and was told by Councilman Zachary Chester to contact health and human services.

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At the time of the shooting, the woman said her family was mourning the loss of her grandmother and aunt when “this guy was tooling around with a gun.”

Councilwoman Kathy McBride held a press conference Monday afternoon requesting Gov. Christie to deputize additional law enforcement officials to the city after the shooting. City resident Ozzia Tift said in an interview after the press conference that a bullet grazed his shoulder as he was wrestling with the alleged gunman.

McBride also claimed that it took 20 minutes for police to respond to the scene, which was echoed by the woman to council.

Business Administrator Sam Hutchinson said that the police department is aware of the incident and an investigation is ongoing.

“I will talk to the (Police) Director (Ralph Rivera Jr.) tomorrow to see if we can increase patrols in the area,” Hutchinson said responding to the woman’s request for additional patrols.

Another resident claimed the police department is not responding to calls.

“I came back home after my father died to keep my mother safe because Trenton when you call the police department you don’t see them,” the man said. “You got drug deals going down, the police don’t show up. Dispatch is telling me, ‘Because they’re not bothering you, why are you calling?’”

“The Trenton Police Department is starting to look like a joke, like a big joke,” he said.

Councilman George Muschal sympathized with the man.

“I know where you’re coming from because I called myself for shots fired from my business and they didn’t come out,” the councilman said. “I know you’re not making it up because it is 100 percent true.”

Muschal urged the man to ask for a supervisor and if that didn’t work to call his cell and he would try to reach the supervisor.

Another resident, who lived near the shooting on Laurel Place, also spoke about the violence.

The man said he has 23 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

“I don’t want to wait until one of them is shot and dies on the street,” he said. “Everybody knows we have a problem, everyone is talking about the problem, I just want to talk about solutions. Something needs to be done.”

McBride said she will keep trying to contact the governor until he responds to her request for aid.

“I could use some of my colleagues up here to join me in asking for the governor to lend more men to the Trenton Police Department,” she said. “The City of Trenton has no money.”

Council President Phyllis Holly-Ward offered another suggestion

“It’s not time to reach out to the governor yet,” she said. “There will be something coming. It will be extreme and it is going to be straight.”

About the Author

Originally from Webster, N.Y., David has been a reporter in N.J. for the past three years (first in Phillipsburg and now in Trenton).He is a Temple alum who interned at the Philadelphia Daily News. Reach the author at dfoster@trentonian.com
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